frontRUNNER’s 2011 Labor Day Coast to Coast 65km Ultramarathon

May 1, 2011 – Toledo City to Cebu City (via Transcentral Highway)

Successfully finished my 10th ultra run !!!

I have to say that overall to date, this was the 2nd most “physically-and-mentally” challenging race I’ve ever participated next to Bataan Death March (BDM) 160 km, and perhaps the “toughest” in terms of “course/route” grade. My quads and hamstring practically “freezed” several times during the race that forced me to slowdown bigtime. Also, I started to feel some pains on my left foot after km#30. Crossed the finish line in 9:21 hours (finisher#67).

the aerial view and elevation profle of the route (pix posted by Jacob Ong in FB)

Given the elevation profile, I came up with these strategies 1) to run at a relatively fast pace in the 1st 15-20km, 2) walk the uphill segments, and then 3) run on a downhill portions. I think I executed plan 1 and 2 pretty well. I ran at a comfortable pace of around 5:00 mins per km on the whole stretch of the flat course, and then started walking at the very first ascent. Plan 3 did not materialize, not at all !!! By the time there were downhill sections, my quads and hamstring were already dead. Adding to that was the pain on my left foot which I started feeling halfway thru the race. From there, I started doing the run-walk ’til I cross the finishline. The weather was great the whole morning by the way, though I heard it was really hot after 1pm.

Thanks Cebu Runners and Roadside Supporters

I would like to acknowledge the hospitality of all runners/supports. Roadside supports were awesome, felt like am running 5k/10k as there were lots of them, and there was never a time I had problems with fuel and hydration all thruout the race. I even have to skip several hydration stations. Thanks for all the support/s especially to Ungo, TTB, groups/individuals whom I came across with during the race (and to others I met along the way, sorry but cant remember all the names/groups, there were a lots you guys).

along the route, still look fresh at this point (from the album posted by Hazel Alba in FB)

May 1, 2011 – 1:21 PM . . .

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Thanks to Jacob and Hazel for the photos…

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